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The End of the World As We Know It: You’re not Paul, You’re Timothy
Acts 13:1-3 • 1 Timothy 1:1-5
First, thank Pastor Aaron Wheaton for filling the pulpit in my absence last week.
Sometimes, when a pastor is gone, they watch last week’s service to see if they need to do any damage control.
With Pastor Aaron, I watch to learn something and to hear a great message.
So, thanks to Aaron for serving last week.
Secondly, I want to tell you, I’m not going to talk about the events of Palm Sunday.
It was a great celebration, and the same people who were waving palm branches shouting, “Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” will later this week be shouting, “Crucify him!”
The rest of this week is the big news.
So not to diminish today at all, but today is simply the beginning of the Passion we see the rest of this week.
Come Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, and you’ll see his Passion.
Come next Sunday to Sunrise and our regular service and you’ll see His glory!
It’s been a couple of weeks, so you may have lost track of the series we’re in the middle of.
So let me refresh your memory a bit.
We have a collection plate on the Communion Table that contains the names of people we believe the Holy Spirit inspired us to work toward a faith conversation.
Notice I chose my words very carefully on that.
God does not expect us to CONVERT those people.
Why?
Because conversion is the Holy Spirit’s job.
For decades, the church has been trying to steal the Holy Spirit’s job … as if God needs us to be better at convicting people than he is!
The Holy Spirit is much better at convicting and converting people than we will be.
In fact, if I have converted someone … they are just as condemned as they were before we started!
The goal here, is to develop genuine concern for someone’s eternity, and seed opportunities to tell YOUR STORY!
We don’t have to know everything there is to know about God or the Bible.
We have to know what WE’VE EXPERIENCED!
And then, we have to be available to tell that experience to other people.
We began with prayer.
(I hope that’s still continuing.
Maybe add yourself and your courage to the prayer list, too.)
Then, we seeded a conversation to ask them about their faith experience.
(You had another 2 weeks since I asked last time.
Show of hands … How many of you had those conversations?)
I want to caution you of a few things here.
I could be the best speaker ever to see this planet.
I could be the most theologically sound human being to ever proclaim the Gospel.
I could be the kindest, most compassionate pastor you’ll ever know.
But there are a few things I cannot do.
One of those things … I cannot make you care about your friend enough to overcome the awkwardness of beginning a faith conversation.
You have to do that on your own.
In this series, I am hopeful that you’re receiving practical ways to prepare the person and yourself for that conversation.
At this point, they shouldn’t have heard your faith experience unless they’ve asked about it.
Praying doesn’t necessitate you telling them anything at all.
And asking them about their faith experience is all about them.
If you’re like I am … you tend to blather on about yourself and your own experiences.
So asking them about their faith life and just sitting back and listening with rapt attention may be the hardest step in the whole series.
If you still haven’t had that conversation, I hope you’d be courageous enough to ask.
People like talking about themselves.
And when you don’t respond by telling how wrong they are or where they would be so much better off being like you … you open the door to a deeper conversation later on.
You demonstrate that you really want to KNOW ABOUT THEM, because you care about them.
Two weeks ago, I encouraged you to Eat Together
This wasn’t a faith thing at all … it was a “getting to know you” thing.
The more you know about them, the more you’ll care about them … it’s human nature.
And the more you know about them, the more specific your prayers can be about their life.
Show of hands, how many of you have started planning that meal?
How many have already had that meal?
Would anyone like to share how it went?
If you’ve struggled with the first three steps, today’s may relieve you a bit … or it may step on your feelings a little bit.
In a 1988 Vice-Presidential debate, fellow Hoosier and then-Senator Dan Quayle made a comparison between his and John Kennedy’s levels of experience.
In response, the now forgotten Senator Lloyd Benson responded, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy.
I knew Jack Kennedy.
Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine.
Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
I’ve already told you that you’re not the Holy Spirit.
Let me add another obvious statement to that, “You are no Jesus.”
Now, let me make a less obvious statement.
Friend, you are no Paul of Tarsus!
You may fashion yourself a stalwart of the faith when you talk with friends.
You may envision yourself as one who goes about boldly telling people about Jesus … but your own inactivity has demonstrated you’re no Paul.
So, let me suggest a better comparison: You’re a Timothy.
You’re not the Holy Spirit, who does things unseen in people’s hearts.
You’re not Jesus who boldly told the religious leaders where they were askew from God’s heart.
You’re not Paul who goes to foreign lands to tell strangers about the Savior.
Most of us are having trouble even asking people we know about their own faith experience.
None of us are Paul!
No, we’re Timothy.
Paul (or Saul as he’s called in today’s passage from Acts) was sent out to foreign lands.
He was the traveling missionary.
And when Paul went through an area, he spent time in that area.
He got to know the people.
He preached Jesus, and him crucified, in the language of the local people.
He used local examples, and local customs to demonstrate the God they didn’t yet know.
The Holy Spirit used Paul’s words to convict and convert countless thousands.
And then, it was time for Paul to go to the next city.
Do you just leave these baby Christians behind without any guidance or support?
No.
You leave behind someone like Timothy.
Timothy converted under Paul’s leadership, and Paul made him into a colleague by leaving him behind as the pastor of the Church at Ephesus.
(He later became the first bishop of Ephesus, so perhaps we’re not so much a Timothy as we may like, either.)
But Timothy is the residue of Paul.
Like ashes after a fire has gone, when Paul left, Timothy remained and led the fledgling church.
Paul’s letters to Timothy are pastor-to-pastor: Mentor-to-mentee.
Did Paul leave Timothy behind as a fire and brimstone preacher?
no.
Did he leave Timothy behind to make connections between the church and local politicians?
no.
Did he leave Timothy behind to keep people in the Church happy?
no.
Paul left Timothy behind as a servant.
Timothy may have served those other functions from time to time, but Paul’s reason for leaving him in Ephesus was to serve this new Church and keep them on a trajectory toward Heaven.
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